SMITH, Adam.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. Second American edition of the "greatest classic of modern economic thought" (PMM), a key influence on the founding fathers and the development of the young republic.First published in 1776, the Wealth of Nations includes several sections focusing on specifically American concerns. The work analyses the deteriorating British-American relationship at length, and reflects approvingly on several aspects of American life, most particularly the colonial separation between church and state. The work consequently won praise and attention from the founding fathers: Madison included it in his list of core items for the proposed congressional library, while Jefferson judged it "the best book extant" on political economy (quoted in Fleischacker, p. 903). For Fleischacker, the influence was still more fundamental: "America has a Constitution that, in the functions it gives to government, the structure its [sic] provides for the military, and the strict separation it proclaims between religious and secular powers, fits Smith's conception of politics better than any government of his day" (p. 924).

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